In the Math & Stat Department at SFA, I teach with a colleague named Roy Joe Harris. He's both a mathematician and a chicken farmer, which while odd enough, isn't close to what he's known for. What he's known for is his amazing personality. See, Dr. Harris is a sort of litmus test for whether I should invest time in others. By this I mean that if you can't get along with Dr. Harris, then there must be something wrong with you. He can get along with anyone and everyone always loves to be around him. You are a true curmudgeon if you can't mesh with his personality. I can get why some people don't like me. I can reflect back on my actions and words at various times and calculate that other people would have been very put off. Not, Dr. Harris. He's just so incredibly likable.
This describes senior Paige Holland as well. I just can't imagine Paige developing an enemy or someone not being able to get along with her. If I heard someone say that they didn't find Paige friendly and warm, then that would be my cue: Mark that person off your list of wanna-be friends. Can't get along with Paige? Probably not going to be worth my effort. You're probably a mean person.
Pleasant is an understatement. She'll go down in my mind as one of the most mature, courteous, grounded, and humble players I will have interacted with. Paige is meek in the positive sense of the word. It's cliche for someone my age with a teenage son to say, but Paige is the kind of person I hope my kid hangs out with in a few years when he gets to college. I know Paige tries to make her teammates around her better, but regardless of when and how she is able to do that, she does something far more important. Paige makes PEOPLE around her better.
If I'm Shannon Connell, I'm blessed to have Holland to work with. With Connell seemingly integrated into the offense for this year and two more following, I can't think of a better mentor to coordinate with than Paige.
Click on the link below to watch the interview done with Paige after last Saturday's scrimmage. On Wednesday, we'll hear from Janet Hill and on Thursday we will shine some light on the seven juniors that form the other part of the upperclassmen core.
You'll see more about this in days to come, but I did get the final OK from the group at Arkansas to do radio broadcasts from Fayetteville. For now, all three matches this weekend are scheduled to be covered live on SFA VolleyBlog Radio, right here in this very space that you are reading. All you have to do is point your browser to my site and click on the radio icon in Friday's post and the audio will start streaming over your phone, tablet, or computer.
Click Here For the Interview with Paige Holland
From Monday: Click Here for the Interview with Jill Ivy
